Evidence Suggests Apple iPhone 5 Bar Loss Rumour is a Hoax

New evidence has arisen indicating that the slew of reports suggesting that an Apple employee had "lost" a prototype of Apple's highly anticipated, though as yet unconfirmed, iPhone 5 smartphone are false.

Doubts about the rumour arose after SFWeekly reported that the San Francisco Police Department had confirmed to it that the department had "no record" of the alleged incident and was not in the process of searching for an iPhone prototype.

The site went on to report that the officer it had spoken to had clarified to it that when initially contacted by CNET -- the site that first reported the missing iPhone 5 -- it had told the tech news site the exact same thing.

SFWeekly's report follows a similar article from PCMag. Like SFWeekly, PCMag reported that it had contacted the San Francisco police and had received a similar reply, clarifying that the department had no knowledge of the alleged iPhone 5 investigation.

The reports follow a previous rumour first posted by CNET, alleging that an Apple employee had lost an iPhone prototype at a San Francisco restaurant and bar. Following the initial rumour fresh claims arose alleging that the San Francisco Police had tracked the device to a residential address.

The rumour is taken to refer to a prototype version of Apple's future iPhone 5 smartphone. To date, Apple has released no firm data regarding its next entry into the iPhone franchise. Even the name iPhone 5 is simply a creation of the world's media.